Former Olympic Diving Medalist Pleads Guilty to Sexually Abusing Children

LONDON – A British court has sentenced former Olympic diving medalist Brian Phelps to nine years in prison for sexually abusing three young girls.

The 64-year-old Phelps pleaded guilty to abusing girls aged six to 15 while instructing them at his fitness club during the 1970s and 1980s.

Phelps won a bronze medal in the 1960 Rome Olympics and took the gold in the 1962 and 1966 Commonwealth Games. He then went on to work as a gymnastics instructor at a club in Poole that he founded with his wife Monica.

Judge Samuel Wiggs said Thursday that Phelps' conduct was degrading and he would have to serve two thirds of his sentence before being considered for parole. Poole is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of London.